Rome, Mar 8 (AP) The Italian government approved a draft law that for the first time introduces the legal definition of femicide in the country's criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment.

The move, announced on the eve of International Women's Day on Saturday, aims at tackling a shocking string of killings and violence targeting women in Italy through strengthening measures against gender-based crimes like stalking and revenge porn.

The proposal, agreed on late Friday, still needs to go through parliament and must be approved by both chambers to become law.

“This is an extremely significant bill, which introduces the crime of femicide in our legal system as an autonomous crime, punishing it with life imprisonment,” said conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni, who strongly backed the initiative.

“It introduces aggravating circumstances and increases sentences for crimes including personal mistreatment, stalking, sexual violence and revenge porn,” she said in a statement.

While the centre-left opposition welcomed the move, it stressed that the new law only tackles the criminal aspect of the problem, while leaving economic and cultural divides unaddressed. Recently, femicide has emerged as a systemic problem deeply entrenched in Italy's patriarchal culture, with some violent incidents renewing debate on gender-based crimes.

Particularly striking was the killing of Giulia Cecchettin, the 22-year-old university student brutally stabbed by her former boyfriend Filippo Turetta in November 2023. Last December, Turetta was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Recent studies show that, while killings have been declining in the Mediterranean country, the rate of femicides tends to be stable or only slightly decrease, while remaining strictly linked to the family or the “emotional sphere” of the victims.

Official data by the Italian Interior ministry recorded 113 femicides in 2024, of which 99 committed by relatives, partners or ex-partners.

Women rights organisation Non Una di Meno — which every year organises rallies across Italian cities and a one-day strike to mark International Women's Day — was very critical about the draft legislation.

“It's a propaganda move,” said activist Serena Fredda, while marching with thousands of people in the centre of Rome. “This is a government that tends to multiply crimes and forgets that, despite the increase in penalties, there is no real deterrence.” Fredda noted that “femicide is only the tip of the iceberg: we must work to eliminate discrimination that hit women from school to work.” (AP) GSP

Femicide criminalisation introduced as autonomous offence, increasing penalties and adding aggravating circumstances under proposed law. The draft law establishes femicide as an autonomous criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment, adds aggravating circumstances and raises penalties for gender-based crimes such as personal mistreatment, stalking, sexual violence and revenge porn; parliamentary approval by both chambers is required for enactment.